DirectlyTalkingToYou t1_irz1ncy wrote on October 12, 2022 at 2:26 AM

You need to open up the fan and see what kind of connections they made inside. I's there two cables coming into the fan? Is there a junction box between the fan and the switch? You need to look at how it was all wired.

evolvedance OP t1_irz5a3i wrote on October 12, 2022 at 2:57 AM

Well, I bought a new fan, a Nutone 696N, which has green, black, and white wires that I need to connect.

The original fan was connected to a wire that seemed to go down directly into the house above the bathroom wall. That was kind of confusing to me cause if it goes directly to that switch, it would have never worked... cause where would the power come from?? There's obviously some kind of junction box between the fan and switch, but will attempt to trace that wire to be certain what's the going on.

Seems a doable project according to many YouTube videos and articles.

Viper67857 t1_irz9mg9 wrote on October 12, 2022 at 3:35 AM

>The original fan was connected to a wire that seemed to go down directly into the house above the bathroom wall. That was kind of confusing to me cause if it goes directly to that switch, it would have never worked... cause where would the power come from??

Is there a receptacle on that wall? Should be a GFCI if so. It's possible they jumped off of the receptacle with a switch-loop through the switch and to the fan.

evolvedance OP t1_irzec5b wrote on October 12, 2022 at 4:20 AM

There is. Switch loop seems to explain it! Also explains everything else to some degree. Like why that smart switch didn't work. Still working it out in my head though. Thanks for your help!